Johnson had a bit of a breakout season in 2014. Expected to be a third-stringer or lower, he finished the season as Michigan's top back and had the highest yards per carry average of anyone with double-digit rushing attempts. Over the first eight games, Johnson had a total of 5 carries. His first shot at significant playing time came in game nine, a few weeks after starter Derrick Green broke his collarbone. Johnson ran 16 times for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns against Indiana, came back to Earth against Northwestern, and then played well against Maryland (94 yards) and Ohio State (74 yards, 2 touchdowns) to finish the year. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL for a second time in the season-ending loss to the Buckeyes.

The future was looking bright for Johnson, but now things are a little hazy. He showed good speed and vision over the last few games, but he was clearly not the coaches' first option. He has now torn his ACL in consecutive years (the first time was in the 2013 season opener). He missed the entire spring with the new staff. And Jim Harbaugh has a history of playing running backs who are a little thicker and sturdier than Johnson. I would probably place Johnson higher on the list if he had remained healthy, but the ACL tear means he will probably miss some time this fall, and he will probably not be anywhere close to 100%, at least to begin the year. We might see another late-season push as he regains strength and confidence in his knee, but for now, there will be other backs higher in the pecking order.

I really enjoy this series. I think you meant "came back to Earth against Northwestern." I hope Johnson is buoyed by his success coming off his first ACL tear, and that he works diligently on the details that will allow him to work his way into the rotation over the year.

I consider Johnson the number one back. He has far more vision and burst when healthy than any of our backs. He ran for 2800 yards and 38 touchdowns his senior year at AA Pioneer. Would have been one of the premier backs in the nation had he not been in a spread offense his first 3 years of HS with limited carries. Story of his career so far, underutilized superstar potential. If he gets fully healthy he will be the number one back.

Was it the same knee and ACL? Where did the replacement come from, himself or a cadaver? Just interested in knowing the details. I had never heard of the ACL replacement being blown. Thought the doc"s always said it was stronger than the original?

One of his touchdowns against Indiana was a thing of beauty. He made a great cut in the backfield before breaking some tackles on his way to the end zone. Like Thunder said, he showed quickness and vision I felt the other guys lacked. It's a damn shame he blew the knee. He was one of the lone bright spots on an otherwise drek offense.

He remind red me of the 90's backs we had. Hard runners with vision who you could feel the defense parting for them. Timmy, Tyrone, Ricky... it felt like the old backs were returning in this kid. Hope he recovers quickly.

Thank you again for doing this countdown. I make time to read this segment and love the back and forth. Well, except on Try Isaac. Dude is not a fullback. That is again for running a great blog and being so honest in all of your evaluations. Players might not like it, but an honest look is hard to come by, and I respect that.

Johnson was fun to watch particularly because he ran hard. He is limited because he needs to gather himself before making a cut. Nonetheless, I have no idea why Hoke did not get him snaps earlier in the year since the other guys were not doing great. Oh well. Agree that the odds are against him to get back to the top of the depth chart.

Since Mike Hart left, we've seen virtually no performance by any RB with any instincts at all. Maybe one season by Fitz Toissaint, and some flashes by Johnson last year, but no one else. If not for Denard, we'd have had virtually no running game to speak of since 2007.

trouble is, he was almost never healthy. He'd have one or two decent games a year, usually against weak opponents, with a lot of really crappy games, so it was hard to tell what kind of back he really was.

Minor had the good IMO. But he was almost too aggressive in seeking out contact. It seemed like half of his runs ended in major collisions. I would not have wanted to tackle that guy. Wish he could have stayed healthier, but it is not surprising that he didn't.

This seems like a fair rank for Johnson given his injury concerns. Really this could go any way - Johnson could get buried again on the depth chart, he could struggle with the injury and be a special teams guy exclusively...or he could be the 3rd down back, or even the primary ball carrier. Who knows...but we have a lot of RBs.

The one spot where I could see Johnson as someone who might be hard to replace is 3rd down back. He's a senior now and you'd think he could be a pass-catching threat -- but he hasn't actually shown much of that yet.

My guess is that he's the 3rd or 4th back (depending on how Higdon looks) and gets some carries just to give defenses a different look from the power guy(s). He's the closest thing Michigan has to a "Lightning" to pair with "Thunder"...if he's healthy.